14 The Flying Mug

After that fight against six Goblins, there were no more problems for the day. Maybe the Healer class gave me some bonuses to intelligence but I didn't do anything stupid anymore. I could grind in peace only taking on a maximum of four Goblins which was easy to do.

By the time I left the Dungeon, I brought my Healer Class up to Level 8 and the other two Classes leveled up once to Level 11. After selling my loot to the Guild I got another nice sum of 54 silver. Thanks to that I now had over one Gold in total.

On the way to the Inn, I stop at a cloth store and bought myself some more regular clothes because that was something I was lacking. I ended up buying five shirts, five pairs of trousers as well as new underwear and socks. The shirts and trousers were made of some kind of a mix between cotton and linen while the underwear was of a softer material which I didn't know. With that, I was 10 silver poorer but it was worth it to not have to wear the same clothes again right after washing them.

Back at the Inn, I took a nice long bath and enjoyed dinner with a beer. After eating I decided it was time to check out the Taverns around this city. I asked Gin for a place that was good to unwind, if possible with music and some good alcohol but wasn't too expensive.

Following the directions I received from Gin I arrived at a Tavern called "The Flying Mug" after only walking for about ten minutes. It was a regular wooden building with two stories and looked quite nice from the outside.

Once I entered I had to smile because it totally looked like how you'd imagine a fantasy tavern to look. There were tables placed around the whole floor, seemingly in a random fashion. Some were bigger and some were smaller. On one side was a long counter where I could see different bottles of drinks and even some barrels.

There were already some people inside, but because it still was quite early the Tavern wasn't overly full yet. There was no music but I could see, what seemed to be a small stage with some instruments opposite the bar counter. A few waitresses were walking between the tables taking orders or bringing out drinks and food but they seemed pretty relaxed at the moment.

Looking around I chose one of the smaller tables near the small stage so that I could have a good view should someone start playing music and sat. down. Shortly after I sat down a good looking young waitress came to my table "Welcome to The Flying Mug, are you here to eat or only for drinking?"

I smiled at the waitress and said "For the moment I'd only like something to drink. What do you have which isn't too strong and not too sweet?"

Thinking for a moment the waitress said "We have some nice flower mead which is quite mellow or a standard honey mead which is a bit sweeter."

Thinking for a moment I said "Than I'd like to try the flower mead first."

With a nod, the waitress went back to the bar and a few minutes later came back with a stone mug filled with sweet-smelling mead. "Here you go. That will be 8 copper."

I handed her the coins and took the mug to smell it a little closer. It was a strange sweet smell that reminded me of walking through a blooming garden. Taking a small sip it tasted sweet but not too extreme. Although I couldn't quite say what it exactly tasted like, it was really good.

For the next thirty minutes more and more people began showing up and the Tavern filled pretty fast. There were also three people standing on the stage getting the instruments ready. It seemed like there soon will be some music. They each had a different instrument, one had what looked like some kind of guitar, the next held what looked like a flute but longer and thicker, and the last one held something resembling a bagpipe.

While I was busy checking out the musicians a man and woman walked up to my table. The woman had a collar around her neck and stood a little behind the man. The man looked to be around 30 years old and didn't have any special features so he was probably a human, while the woman behind him had small animal ears and a long slender furry tail. A catwoman probably. "Do you mind if we sit at your table?" he asked.

I nodded "Sure, I'm here by myself."

He sat down opposite me and the catwoman just stood behind him. I raised an eyebrow at that and he chuckled "My name is Theodore and that is my slave Antela. Nice to meet ya."

I tipped my mug in his direction in greeting and said "I'm Rolas. Nice meeting you too."

He ordered something to eat and drink and then said "So you're here alone? You look like a Dungeon Diver. Not here with your team?"

I chuckled and said "Nah, I just arrived here a few days ago. Still, haven't gotten a team together. Are you a Dungeon Diver too?"

Shaking his head he said "No, I'm a merchant. I own my own Caravan and we travel from city to city selling all kinds of goods."

Thinking for a moment I decided to ask him "Seeing as you got a slave, do you mind me asking some questions? I'm looking to buy a slave for my team but I'm not quite sure how the whole slavery thing works."

He laughed at that and said "Yeah sure. But how can you not know about slavery? I mean it is forbidden to randomly enslave someone here in Adalas but you surely know the basics right?"

Shaking my head and sighing I said "I grew up in a small village in the forest. We didn't have any contact with the outside world. So I'm pretty ignorant about the whole thing."

For the next hour, he answered any questions I had and giving me the basic rundown on how slavery works. I was glad he was so helpful so I bought him some drinks during our talk as a thank you. The night was pretty informative and enjoyable with music and alcohol. I went back to the Inn slightly tipsy.